Asia Society Confucius Classrooms Network—

NHS And School District Accepted Into Hanban

In recognition of its potential as a model Chinese language program for the country — strong local leadership, demonstrated commitment to international exchange and collaboration, and global vision for the future — Newtown High School and the Newtown School District was accepted recently as a member of the cohort of schools in the Hanban-Asia Society Confucius Classrooms Network, the school announced recently.

The network represents more than 15,000 students in 23 states and the District of Columbia; public schools, independent schools, and charter schools; elementary, middle, and high schools; and urban, rural, and suburban schools.

Each Hanban-Asia Society Confucius Classroom will be matched with a partner school in China to enhance opportunities for language learning and to provide students, teachers, and administrators with opportunities to conduct exchanges and joint projects. The network is linked through an online community where teachers will share resources and best practices in an effort to build models for the field.

The Newtown China Initiative is based on the current sister school partnership with three schools in the city of Liaocheng. The partnership now provides opportunities for Newtown students, grades 5 through 12, and a student ambassador preparatory program. The Mandarin program will extend to level III by the fall of 2011 for students, and is currently piloting a language workshop to Newtown educators. In its third year of hosting between sister-schools, Liaocheng schools will send lower middle school students for the first time this school year in addition to their high school delegates, while Newtown will visit with 12 high school student ambassadors in April.

As NHS assistant principal and program coordinator Jason Hiruo announced on Monday, November 22, the school’s sister school, Liaocheng Middle School #3, in the Shandong Province of China, will be sending a 32-member delegation from February 5 to February 13 to visit the high school and Newtown. This will be the third year the partner school has sent a delegation of students and school representatives to visit NHS, and the trip will mark the partnership’s third year.

The program continues to expand as the Newtown China Initiative Team collaborates with Yale University, Columbia University’s Teachers College, local corporations, and the Chinese community in the western Connecticut region to discuss ongoing partnerships for professional development and cultural opportunities in the district.

As part of its continuing effort to help American students become more globally competent, Asia Society has been supporting the development of Chinese language programs in schools across the United States. This work includes the Chinese Language Initiatives e-newsletter, the annual National Chinese Language Conference co-organized with the College Board, which will be held in San Francisco April 14 through 16, and the development of resources for the field, including a “Learning Chinese in American Schools” DVD and a “Meeting the Challenge” report on Chinese language teacher preparation.

The Confucius Classrooms Network was established with the support of an international expert advisory committee and in partnership with Hanban, the affiliate of the Chinese Ministry of Education that supports the teaching and learning of Chinese language and culture in all corners of the world. Asia Society has designed the selection process for these 100 schools, assists in creating links with schools in China, convenes an annual meeting in conjunction with the National Chinese Language Conference, provides support through e-newsletters and professional development seminars, and collects data to assess progress.

For more information on the Newtown China Initiative and the programs associated with it, including submitting to be a host family for the visiting February delegation from China, contact Jason Hiruo hiruoj@newtown.k12.ct.us or 203-426-7648. For more information about the Hanban-Asia Society Confucius Classrooms Network and all of Asia Society’s Chinese Language Initiatives, visit asiasociety.org/Chinese.